New car registrations up slightly in May

New car registrations for the month of May were up slightly (1.47 per cent) (6,080) when compared to May 2017 (5,992), official statistics released today by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show. Registrations year to date remain 4.32 per cent (85,933) down on the same period last year (89,815).

New Light Commercial Vehicle registrations (LCV) were up 12.5 per cent (1,644) on May 2017 (1,461) and year to date are up 5.9 per cent (15,943). While New Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HGV) have declined 4.2 per cent for the month of May (228) compared to the same month last year (238) and are down 7.7 per cent (1,385) year to date.
Imported Used Cars have shown an increase of 18.35 per cent for the month of May 2018 (8,979) when compared to May 2017 (7,587) while year to date they are 13 per cent (43,738) ahead of 2017 (38,698)

Commenting on the figures SIMI Director General, Alan Nolan stated “The volume of Used imports is clearly the dominant feature and is continuing to impact negatively on the new car market. The slight increase in New car registrations for the month of May is not an indication of improvement, rather a case of altered timing in hire drive registrations with 470 more registered in May this year while the overall total for the year to date is actually 13 cars behind 2017. In line with earlier predictions Electric Vehicle (EV) sales have increased from 370 in 2017 to 512 this year. The number of Imported Used Electric Vehicles also increased from 165 to 280 this year. We would expect to see registrations of new EVs increase further as more new models come to market. The market share based on fuel type for the year to Date up to the end of May was: Diesel 55.6 per cent , Petrol 37.9 per cent , Hybrid 5.4 per cent , Plug-in Hybrid 0.5 per cent , Electric Vehicle 0.6 per cent .

As we move into June the Industry is now focused on preparations for the start of the second peak sales period on 1st of July. In such a competitive market new car offers across all of the brands are very strong at the moment and the various advertising campaigns are in full swing. The advice to consumers, as always, is to shop around to find that deal that best suits their own specific needs.”